St. Joseph’s/Candler Awarded $1.4 million in Federal Stimulus Funding

Ten new cancer projects will be funded at St. Joseph’s/Candler’s Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion with $1.49 million from the National Cancer Institute.

The National Cancer Institute is using $80 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to expand cancer research at the 14 sites of the NCI Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP) and 15 new sites.

“This is recognition from the NCI that the Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion is a leader in fighting and researching the causes of cancer,” said Paul P. Hinchey, President and CEO of SJ/C. “Patients don’t have to travel hundreds of miles away to find the best care.” The Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion (LCRP) was named one of the original sites in 2007 and developed unique approaches to finding and treating cancer through the NCCCP. The program has allowed cancer patients access to new clinical trials that weren’t available in Savannah before.

“This new funding will strengthen and further support our clinical trial efforts to allow patients to have access to the latest evidence based care right in their own community,” said Dr. Howard Zaren, medical director and principal investigator for the NCCCP. “The award focuses on research based cancer care that spans the full cancer continuum from prevention, screening, diagnoses & treatment, survivorship and end of life care.”

The NCCCP is a network of community-hospital cancer centers that is working to provide research-based cancer care spanning the full cancer continuum – from prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship through end-of-life care. The program is designed as a community-based platform to support basic, clinical and population-based research initiatives. The NCCCP is designed to create new research opportunities across the cancer continuum from screening and treatment to follow-up care, with an emphasis on minority and underserved populations. Expanding the NCCCP network will provide access to more patients in community cancer centers to support basic, translational, clinical, and population-based research toward effective new prevention strategies and treatments for cancer patients.